1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to audio recording and playback systems and methods and, more particularly, to a system and method for associating distinct a visual representation with discrete participants in a recorded meeting, enabling participants to be identified and distinguished when speaking by way of the visual representations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use and operation of conventional audio recording devices and mediums, including analog and digital recorders, to record and playback sounds is well established. When used alone, namely without video recording equipment, conventional audio recording devices are operative to record sounds present in a desired area or location, such as articulated voices, and fix them to a storage medium and/or distribute them over a transitory medium. The recorded material can then be utilized to playback the sound activity recorded at a desired time.
In many scenarios, including business meetings or other group discussions, the functionality of conventional audio recording devices and integrated or compatible audio playback devices is particularly useful in recording conversations occurring between a plurality of speakers. Advantageously, by recording the conversation of the speakers in a meeting, anyone can subsequently review the discussions that transpired, not only enabling parties who were not able to attend the meeting to be quickly brought up to speed, but also enabling participants who were in attendance to refresh their recollection.
A well known limitation of conventional recording devices, however, is that when recording conversations occurring between a plurality of speakers, the particular speaker being recorded at a given time is generally not automatically documented. As such, automatic identification of the present speaker during subsequent playback (or transcription) is generally not supported. Existing systems and methods which enable some form of identification of distinct speakers during playback, beyond simple voice recognition, generally require the use of additional equipment, such as a video recorder, and/or additional personnel, such as a transcription professional. But when employed solely to enable subsequent identification of speakers in a recording, such existing systems and methods generally are undesirable as they will increase the costs and space requirements for the meeting. Moreover, adding a camera or additional personnel to the meeting room(s) may cause some participants to become more hesitant to speak up.
Thus, there remains a need for a system and method for visually representing each participant in a recorded meeting while that participant is speaking which would automatically distinguish each speaker in real time during recording. It would be helpful if such a system and method for visually representing speaking participants in a recorded meeting was operative to identify each participant with a distinct visual cue to be displayed/highlighted during playback while that participant was speaking. It would be additionally desirable for such a system and method for visually representing speaking participants in a recorded meeting solely utilized conventional audio devices to minimize any increase in requisite space or implementation cost as well as any disruption to the typical meeting environment that may affect the participants' willingness to actively contribute thereto.
The Applicant's invention described herein provides for a system and method adapted to enable each speaking participant in a meeting to be associated with a distinct visual cue so as to allow such participants, during playback, to be identified and visually distinguished while speaking. The primary operational steps of Applicant's system and method for visually representing speaking participants are associating each of a plurality of distinct audio capture devices for use in a meeting with a particular sensory cue, analyzing sound level meters in received audio input to recognize participants in real time through their speaking, and generating a trigger tied to the sound recording which activates the sensory cue associated with the recognized participant while they speak. When in operation, the system and method for visually representing speaking participants allows users to know exactly who is speaking at any point during a recorded meeting. As a result, many of the limitations imposed by the fixed length structure of extension bars are removed.